Looking at stars
by Sniggyfrumps
Summary: One starry night prompts relationship angst, existential discussions and, uh, zombie kittens. Somehow. - Trilogy of oneshots; prompt: 'stars'
1. How I love you

**A/N: Many delicious thanks to beautybelle300256 for tackling this trilogy of oneshots to the ground and betaing the crap out of them. I don't know what they- oh wait, yes I do. They'd be drowning in commas and Otto would behave like a five-year-old. Plus some other embarrassing crap that she had me brush off. So say thank you to the nice beta lady.  
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**Let's start off with some ChinMay, containing 73% of your daily recommended intake of angst.**

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**How I Love You**

It had rained the previous night and the earth was still soft and gave slightly under her weight. Because of the humidity, a sweet flowery scent of fertile soil hung in the air in mocking disharmony with her mood.

Jinmay huddled under the low branches of the oak. She had felt oddly exposed, sitting under the heaviness of the perfectly clear night sky. Nights like these, where the stars shone vividly, compelled people to look up into the sky and ponder their semi permanent existence.

No wonder she felt uncomfortable out there.

He would come soon (would almost be skipping up the hill) to grab her hand and smile shyly at her. And she would respond appropriately: smile in reply, kiss him on the cheek and cutely giggle something or other that would illustrate how very much in love with him she was.

Jinmay closed her eyes. She wanted to escape the stern look of the stars; those ever-watching but faraway beacons that passed judgement on nights like these and demanded she be honest with herself. At least until he came for her.

When the Hyperforce left to hunt the Dark One Worm, she had been left in charge of protecting Shuggazoom City. Jinmay had risen to the challenge and done her best, being on her own for the first time she could manage to remember. It had been beyond terrifying and so she'd taken to looking at the stars, glassy-eyed and patiently waiting for her one true love to come for her. The stars had looked back at her with scrutinizing stares, knowing something she didn't, something she ought to know, hoping they could spur her on to finding out for herself. And she had.

When he'd left, she'd had time to sit under the stars and miss him and smile and wonder at her luck and think. Being with him… it seemed too good to be real. Like they were meant for each other. Like she was _destined_ to love him -

And that was it, wasn't it? These feelings which were too sweet, too picture-perfect, too ideal - they were not hers. They were what somebody else, who couldn't quite fathom the emotion, thought love to be: some grotesquely idyllic notion of utter devotion to another person. If asked, that person would point to a Valentine's Card and answer "That's love." She felt this way, and she felt it because she had been ordered to.

Jinmay shifted to sit on a patch of soft moss and gave a girlishly pained sigh. At the bottom of the hill the Monkey Team appeared to be splitting off as two figures went for the lake while the rest seemed occupied in light banter. Someone broke off from the group and moved towards her spot under the oak. The stars twinkled and egged her on.

Love was supposed to be unconditional, yes, she'd heard that. But that was because when you loved someone, it was always _in spite of_. She'd never, ever set any conditions. She had no past. She didn't know who she was. How could you expect anybody to love somebody who was nobody? She was allegedly perfect. You didn't love somebody who was perfect. You idolized them.

But Chiro was the Chosen one. Every single free-spirited being in the known multiverse counted on him for their continued freedom. She didn't want to shake his resolve by mentioning that their relationship probably was a big, shiny pile of pre-programmed lies. He needed her to lean on; he needed her by his side to support him, always; he needed to know she loved him as much as he thought himself to love her.

Chiro climbed the hill excitedly and almost fell over doing so. She did not turn to face him. He sat down beside her.

The outside factors were recognised on a list of possible scenarios and she felt gears whir inside as treacherous programs booted up and instructed her mechanical heart to flutter in appropriate response to his physical presence.

"Hey," he said softly.

An array of replies fitting the situation was composed and she was obliged to offer him one or more.

"I missed you," she said, still not facing him.

"Well, what where you sitting here all alone for then?" he grinned. His hand searched the grass for hers and, when he found it, gave it a victorious nudge before edging in closer.

"Just thinking about things."

She would have to tell him. She'd get Gibson and Antauri to override the program - these feelings that weren't hers - and she'd tell him, and she'd go away and find out who she used to be and who she was going to be. She really didn't love the way his eyes adamantly searched for hers; the way she felt weak when he played with her fingers in his hand was only the result of a binary code somebody else had concocted.

"Yeah? About what?" Chiro asked - his voice full of hope that he might somehow be involved in the answer.

"How I love you," Jinmay answered; almost choking on a sob.


	2. Stargazing with Schrödinger

**A/N: And now for something completely different! - If you're confused about the cat-in-a-box thing at the beginning, look up 'Schrödinger's Cat'. Hey, do it anyway, you'll be informed and I can claim this as edutainment. Except that I won't.**

**This is Gibson/Nova/Otto friendship fluff.**

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**Stargazing with Schrödinger**

Nova smiled contentedly as she watched Chiro stumble up the hill where Jinmay sat waiting for him. They are so cute together, she thought. And tonight was such a lovely night for relaxation. The air was warm and fragrant, the sky was beautifully clear and the sounds of the city seemed to have died to a whisper, leaving her in peace with her thoughts-

"Would you just _listen_ for a second?!"

"I am - there's a box, there's a cat _in_ the box, but I didn't think you'd want pets in the Robot after the whole Thingy episode."

"It's hypothetical you dolt!"

"Hypo-? Oh the poor cat! It's freezing to death!"

"That would be hypothermia, Otto."

"Well, I'm sure I could whip up a heating unit real quick. Even install it with a kitty-snack dispenser, whatcha think?"

Gibson made a strangled noise.

"It's make-believe," Nova said helpfully.

"Oh, I see."

Gibson glared at Nova and then stubbornly turned to the green monkey - who _would_ be learning something about theoretical physics tonight, by Shuggazoom!

"We _pretend_ to have a cat placed in a box, yes? And as I explained before, because of the set-up of the box, there is a fifty-fifty chance that the cat is either dead or alive _no there will not be any such punched air holes just listen_ and because we cannot know for sure which state the cat is in before we open the box, it therefore exists in both physical conditions, that is, neither alive nor dead."

Otto processed these facts into whatever sentiments made sense to his peculiar cogitation. Gibson and Nova frowned warily as a look of utter horror crossed the green monkey's features.

"_Oh my tail it's a zombie-kitty making machine!_"

Nova swore she heard Gibson blow a fuse.

"FOR THE LAST TIME I - oh forget it, would you please?"

"Uh, okay," Otto said uncertainly.

They sat in relative silence, as Gibson grumbled incoherently, Nova hummed and Otto picked flowers, slowly assembling small action-figures out of daffodils.

"One of the most brilliant thought-experiments concerning quantum mechanics and he relates it to undead felines," Gibson muttered in an 'I'm-the-only-sane-monkey-around-here' tone of voice.

"Give it a rest, Gibson," Nova said. "Why don't you try to enjoy the evening?"

The blue monkey huffed.

"Not everything has to be about science." Nova smiled as Otto slipped a wristwatch made of forget-me-nots onto her wrist. It went a little too slow and one of the hands was a little crooked, but it was dark and he had been in a hurry to finish it.

"I _like_ science," Gibson said defensively; it sounded hilariously pouty, coming from him.

"You sure do."

"Don't be patronizing, Nova, it doesn't suit you."

"Relax, Gibson. Look at the stars."

He did so.

Then he turned to Nova, unsure of what he was supposed to have accomplished.

She shook her head. "You just can't enjoy things unless there's an equation involved somewhere, can you?" she chuckled.

Gibson narrowed his eyes. "I can take pleasure in non-science related affairs just fine thank you very much."

Otto stopped his enterprise to construct a perpetual motion engine out of weeds. "Naaaw? Really?" he asked, full of cheerful mocking. He and Nova exchanged playful, knowing looks.

Gibson shot a hand towards the night sky. "You don't think I appreciate all the little phenomena around me? You don't think that I look to the sky with wonder? Well, I do, I just don't get all poetic and moody about it!"

Otto just chuckled at him. The scientist, having worked himself into a bit of a stir, got up and started pacing.

"I look at the stars and find it extraordinarily wondrous that against all odds, this planet still _exists_, still hasn't collided with any of the milliards of pieces of rock that float about in space.

"I look at the stars and wonder when their chemical components will cease to fuel their lights, and if we might live to see them burn out. I wonder at the sheer magnitude of the age of the stars, just the light that reaches us now is far older then we care to understand and has been underway in space longer than Shuggazoom itself.

"I wonder at the odds that made it so we're alive; I wonder at the peculiar chain of beings that preceded us and appreciate them for surviving against all odds for immeasurable amounts of time before eventually _becoming_ us. I wonder at the outlandish odds that _we_, the persons we are, with the _exact_ traits we inhabit, should have that insane luck to be put onto _this_ very planet, in this exact time and place in the universe, and not _anywhere_ else."

The outburst came to a halt as Gibson suddenly became very self-conscious.

Otto stared slack-jawed, a slight blush having formed on his cheeks at the passion of Gibson's words. Nova's eyes were wide and shiny, her mind racing to keep up with the ranting of the Hyperforce scientist.

The blue monkey sat back down awkwardly.

Otto poked his lip speculating. "What d'ya suppose the odds are of finding a planet made entirely of purple shaving cream?"

"I can say without estimating the exact numbers that the chances are probably very slim."

"Gibson's not bothering to calculate something? What are the odds?" Nova sidled in to sit beside Gibson. He flinched lightly at her sudden closeness, but remained silent.

"We should go to the museum tomorrow."

"Yeah."

"I'd like that."

Above them, the stars shone, and probably would continue to do so for a very long time.


	3. What really matters

**A/N: I managed to rustle up a decent Sprx & Antauri fic - I'm so happy I might just pass out. Glee!**

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**What really matters**

Two lone figures strode along the great lake of Shuggazoom City, decidedly avoiding the rest of the Hyperforce, as the conversation in the making between the two of them wasn't for the ears of the others.

Antauri walked with his arms folded neatly behind his back, his posture straight and his mechanical body reflecting the dulled lights of the City. Sprx kept the pace with a frown on his face; the oncoming darkness couldn't quite mask the disturbingly serious air around the pilot.

"Don't you think the kid would rather slump around the Super Robot for a few weeks now we've got a breather? I know I would," Sprx asked - not trying all that hard to mask his slight irritation.

"It is hardly the appropriate time to let our guard down that severely."

"Why not? The Dark One Worm is toast and Shuggazoom is nice and ghost-free again. What's the worry?"

Antauri went silent. Not his usual silence, which would often be a response in itself, but an empty silence, completely devoid of anything that could carry the conversation further. Sprx knew he wasn't always _that_ observant, nevertheless, he had learned to read his friend's wordless replies without fail.

"What?" he asked again. "What _is_ the worry?"

Antauri paused a little too long before answering. "We have a duty to Shuggazoom, and the universe. We can afford to rest shortly, but we must never lose sight of our mission."

As if on cue, they stopped. On the other side of the lake, the three remaining simian members of the Hyperforce seemed to be recognizing constellations, pointing and laughing at the blackness above.

"There's more coming," Sprx stated grimly. Antuari winced inwardly at the serious tone of his friend. He didn't like it when Sprx got like this. Sprx usually carried himself with a happy-go-lucky demeanour rivaling that of Otto's, but when things struck him, they struck him hard.

"As long as there are people wanting to live in freedom, there will be others wishing to enslave them," Antauri replied non-committedly.

Time – Antauri mused - was a fluid existence, something that couldn't be measured or estimated, however vigorously supposed intelligent beings tried to impose numbers and concepts onto it. It didn't have a beginning, it didn't have an end; it just existed as an infinite 'in-between'. And as such, an explicit climax would never be reached; there would only be a dull alternation between peace and conflict.

Sprx was a pilot. He transported people from point A to point B - a purpose with a clear start and a definite conclusion. He had joined the Hyperforce with this mindset: that at some point, it would all be over and done with. To him, the destruction of the Dark One Worm had been an unambiguous victory: a signal of lighter days to come.

"We're going to win though, since we're the good guys. Heroes have a special deal with fate, y'know?" It should have been light-hearted, but the words came out oddly bleak.

"Yes," Antauri answered, not liking the discrepancy in tone and content.

"It's all about fate."

Antauri went silent again.

"Don't try to avoid this. At some point you'll have to spill the beans."

They started walking again. Sprx could feel the blackness of the sky weighing over him like a burden. It wasn't always a snug feeling, knowing that the entire universe depended on you.

"I've asked you about this sort of stuff before and you always manage to sneak around the subject, making me think you gave me a straight answer, and then, when I think about it later, you really didn't."

"I am sorry to have made you feel that way."

"Yeah, sure."

Looking to the blinking surface of the lake, it seemed childish to have been afraid of water, Sprx thought, when there were far worse things to consider.

"Just tell me for certain that what we're doing… that it'll end all right. At some point." Sprx cringed at the pathetically hopeful tinge in his voice. He sounded like a child begging for a happy ending.

"Have faith in the Chosen One, and the Power Primate."

"You always say that. Weren't those robed guys of yours supposed to have been able to predict the future or something?"

"The Veran Mystics? Yes, they had means with which they could foresee particular events within the Power Primate. They predicted the rise of the Chosen One."

"… and yet your dear ol' masters went straight ahead and shacked up with Skeleton King." Sprx was nothing if not blunt at times.

Antauri stopped dead in his tracks. So it finally came to this.

Sprx turned around to face the silver monkey who sent him a sad look saying: 'You really do not want to have this particular conversation.'

Sprx looked at the gravel path under his feet. "Must be nice to believe in fate. Never have to worry about how this ends."

"Fate is not a straightforward concept. It takes twists and turns that may discourage those who try to follow its tracks. The larger picture always remains, however."

"So, what, the Verans were just minor glitches on the mainframe of fate? It didn't matter that your masters betrayed everything they'd told _you_, and therefore the rest of us?"

"The Chosen One prevailed, as was foreseen. _That_ was fate."

"So they predicted that the kid would show up. But what about _us_?"

"…"

As it were, Sprx often found Antauri pretty infuriating. Sprx was rash, loudmouthed and carefree. Antauri was distant, quiet and serious. They were hardly similar, but they came to terms with that, both being able to offer the other qualities that they somehow lacked themselves. Sprx valued the friendship he had with the spiritual advisor, but sometimes it would annoy him how much the other wanted the Monkey Team to be serious about their training and responsibilities and how he would then carefully cradle them when it came to certain other aspects of their duty as universal protectors.

"… I will hit you if you don't answer me. Seriously. Right on the mouth. I don't care about _how long_ Nova will scream at me for it, I _will_ do it."

Antauri almost smiled. Well, this was going to hurt either way.

"In terms of the universe, the Veran Mystics were but a fraction of the powers that take an interest in shaping the outcome of our existence. It hardly mattered that they should stray from the path, as fate always finds a way around the individuals."

If Sprx hadn't been completely serious about wanting to hit Antauri, he sure was now.

"_Find a way around the-_ So we… hardly matter? What we're doing - you, me, Otto, Nova, Gibson - we don't matter?"

"You should not think like that. What we are doing: aiding, educating and essentially nurturing Chiro, is far more important than any of us realize. Chiro is what matters."

Sprx snorted. "So I'm not supposed to worry about my own tail, is that it? Or yours, for that matter?" He shot a meaningful glance at his friend, now furless and, according to Sprx, far too shiny for his own good. "Real nice. And what you're not saying outright, though, is that fate will have its way, so it doesn't really matter what sacrifices we make, we're just fulfilling a cosmic wish list. Is that why you were so stupidly calm about doing it? Eggs, milk, butter, self-sacrifice, huh?"

He was of course referring to the occurrences shortly preceding Antauri's new body.

"Believing in fate will not belittle the difficult tasks we are made to do."

Now it was Sprx' turn to be silent. His was of the harsh and unforgiving kind, waiting, but not expecting, to be proven wrong.

Antauri kept silent too, carefully choosing his words.

He had always been very open about his and Mandarin's time on Paralladoll, as had Nova about her apprenticeship on Galaxia. But the others were oblivious as to what Sprx had been up to in the time between waking up from their first stasis to undertaking their duty as the Hyperforce, led by Mandarin. Where he'd roamed, how he'd acquired his skills. Antauri knew that Sprx, however much the red monkey wanted to deny this, yearned for those times when he was free to journey the galaxies of his own accord. Autonomy was essential to the pilot; it was how breathing air was biologically necessary to function - freedom of choice was likewise his spiritual means to live and not wither away and die.

That was why Antauri knew what would come up during this conversation would not sit well with Sprx.

"I cannot, nor could the Veran Mystics, foretell the immediate future. Trying to discern the smaller differences in the long flow of time becomes very difficult. Truthfully, the Veran Mystics did not know if the Chosen One would be on the side of good. They only foretold the coming of a great prodigy of the Power Primate."

Antauri took to looking at the stars. The sky was now totally black, an enormous dark dome that promised neither conflict nor peace.

"There are… variables, able to slow or quicken the pace of destiny. If Chiro had been lured by Mandarin, I would very much fear for the course of fate."

"But he wasn't."

"Because we had been there, grooming him for the right path."

"Uh-huh. Fate. Right."

"We chose to guide Chiro and always stand behind him."

"Of course we did – anything else would've been sheer douchebaggery."

"But fate did not force the ethics upon you with which you support that statement. The reasons for which we choose to do what we do remain essential."

"You're just saying that to make me feel better."

"You are free to believe whatever you want," Antauri said soothingly and tried a smile.

Sprx seemed lost in thought as they started down the path. In the distance, they could make out the movements of their comrades. Jinmay was helping Otto carry what appeared to be a jet-motor made of ivy. Sprx made a mental note to check the Foot Crusher Cruiser 5 for any future 'updates'.

"Soo… school trip to the museum tomorrow?"

"Yes."

"Alright, but if Gibson starts wanting to carbon date stuff and correct the custodian, I am so back at the robot playing the pinball machine."

Antauri chuckled. "I suppose that is fair."

The Hyperforce made their way back to the Robot.

The stars watched on, silently.


End file.
